US Series A valuations for AI-native startups
How much more an AI-native company gets at Series A in the US, at the bottom, middle and top of the market.
- Data as of Q2 2026
- Updated 20 August 2026
- Sources: Carta
The numbers
At a glance
- Median pre-money, AI-native
- $57.3M
- Excluding foundation-model companies
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Top quarter, AI-native
- $109.2M
- 75th percentile pre-money
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Bottom quarter, AI-native
- $34M
- 25th percentile pre-money
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Median for everyone else
- $46M
- Pre-money, excluding AI-native
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Median dilution
- 18%
- All Series A rounds
- Carta, Q1 2026
Our reading
What the numbers say
Series A is where the AI premium shows in the US. The median AI-native round was priced at $57.3M pre-money, against $46M for everyone else: about 25% more.
The premium runs through the range. A quarter of AI-native rounds were priced below $34M, and a quarter above $109.2M.
Foundation-model companies are left out, as their rounds are priced far above these. At the median, a Series A sold about 18% of the company.
The data
The full tables
| Companies | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-money, excluding AI-native | $27.3M | $46M | $100M | — |
| Pre-money, AI-native | $34M | $57.3M | $109.2M | — |
| Post-money, all companies | — | $62.8M | — | $300M |
Pre-money rows are Carta's quartiles; the all-company row is post-money, with its median and 90th percentile.
Sources: Carta, State of Private Markets: Q1 2026
- Seed and Series A figures are Carta's for Q1 2026, its latest. The AI-native split leaves out foundation-model companies, whose rounds are far larger. The all-company figures are post-money: they include the new money.
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